Dear investor,

The Side by Side Social Impact Bond (Side by Side SIB) launched at the end of 2020. Berry Street and the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA), in partnership with the Victorian Department of Education and Training, have established and commenced delivery of the Side by Side Program, providing a timely opportunity to update you on  the progress.

Referrals

The Side by Side Program is currently operating in three schools located in Northern Melbourne. This is the first of the three geographic clusters in which the Program will be delivered. The three schools were engaged in the late 2020 and have successfully referred the first cohort of students into the Program, comprising 26 enrolled students from 23 families. This is in line with the planned intake, and is a pleasing result considering the ongoing disruptions caused by Covid-19 during the establishment period, and the fact that many students and families had to be enrolled during the school holiday period.

One of the key learnings for the next intake period is the importance of working with families from the start of Term 4 to ensure they are enrolled and ready for the Program before the Christmas holidays.

Half of the cohort are First Nations students, which VACCA are supporting. The remaining 13 students are supported by Berry Street. The breakdown of students by year level is as follows:

Year 1: 5
Year 2: 6
Year 3: 7
Year 5: 8
Total: 26

Students enrolled in the program and their families are dealing with a range of issues that have contributed to low attendance at school. These include health and mental health challenges, unstable housing and out-of-home care placements and family violence, breakdowns and bereavements.

Betty’s story

Betty* is 9 years old and is from a Torres Strait Island cultural background. Betty has struggled to maintain steady school attendance due to the instability of her out-of-home care arrangements. Betty has experienced a traumatic introduction to life, having been placed in upwards of 50 different home care placements, and as a result, she significantly lacks the safety and stability of a home environment. Her current kinship care placement with her cousins in their early twenties appears to be providing more stability for Betty.

Betty is severely delayed in her phonological awareness and is 24 months behind in her  reading, writing and social capabilities. Betty presents with a mostly cheerful disposition towards school, but due to her traumatic experiences there are obvious signs of distress, dysregulation and barriers to engaging fully in school life.

Betty receives social/emotional and phonological awareness support three times a week with a Side by Side teacher. Using a well-structured, predictable and multi-sensory approach to teaching, she has already made excellent gains both academically and in her readiness to learn. Whilst it is still difficult for her to engage in effective learning in the classroom environment, she is thriving as part of small group intervention, despite being in an open space with multiple distractions around her.

Betty’s successes have been shared with her carers, giving them hope that Betty is joyful and starting to engage well with school. Betty’s carers have actively engaged with this news, creating a trusting relationship with the Side by Side teacher.

Continuing to strengthen Betty’s phonological awareness and bridge the gap in her learning is a priority for the Side by Side team. She requires more support and guidance to ensure that the success she is feeling in the intervention is also occurring in the classroom.

* The student's name has been changed for privacy reasons.  

Service delivery and whole of school training

The Side by Side team has commenced supporting students and families in a number of ways, such as by:

• providing a coordinated approach between home and school, and working closely with other services the families are engaging with,
• facilitating referrals to other services where appropriate, including family violence programs, family services and therapeutic services,
• attending student support group and care team meetings and supporting families to participate in parent and teacher meetings,
• assisting families with home learning and building routines to support regular engagement and attendance at school, including sleep routines, regular meals, providing home literacy packs and learning activities, school uniforms and guidance on school holiday programs, and
• providing small group and one-on-one literacy support for the students, working alongside classroom teachers and school wellbeing teams to identify learning challenges, ensure wellbeing issues are addressed and ensure students build their confidence as learners.

All three schools have commenced their culturally responsive and trauma-informed training with the Side by Side whole-of-school transformation team. The Side by Side whole-of-school training has been designed by Berry Street Education Model Senior Trainers and VACCA Senior Education Advisors. The training supports the schools to better understand cultural safety and the impact of individual or family trauma on student attendance. It also helps schools to build their skills to develop a strengths-based, culturally responsive and trauma informed whole school educational approach. The training is adapted based on each school’s context and community.

Pictured: Side by Side program in action at a school in Northern Melbourne. 

The feedback on the whole of school training days has thus far been very positive. Additional training and consultation will be provided throughout the coming years to embed the cultural and practice changes within the schools.

Staffing

Berry Street and VACCA have successfully recruited a Side by Side Program Manager, two teachers, and two family and education support workers (one from Berry Street and one from VACCA). The Berry Street teachers are based in the schools and work directly with the students and schools. The family and education support workers work directly with the families and students to address school engagement and barriers to attendance. An additional family and education support worker role is currently in recruitment. Both organisations will commence recruiting for additional roles later this year as the Program is expanded to the second cluster of schools.

Hayley Pethica has been appointed as the Side by Side Program Manager. Hayley brings almost 15 years of experience working in the education and social sector to her new role. Prior to commencing at Berry Street, Hayley worked in the Engaging Students at Risk Branch in the Department of Education and Training. This involved working closely across the Department to deliver targeted and local responses to barriers that limit participation in early learning and education for priority cohorts of children and young people.

We look forward to sharing more updates with you in the years to come. Please note that the first Side by Side SIB Annual Report will be provided to investors around March 2022.

Thank you for supporting an innovative program which we believe will create a lifetime of change for young children.

Kind regards,

Elyse Sainty
Director, Impact Investing, Social Ventures Australia